Farewell At Fenway

Red Sox Fans, Clemens Cheer One Another

BOSTON — A starting player on the Red Sox said Roger Clemens' day was enough to give you goose bumps no matter which side you were on.

That was nice, but it wasn't quite true.

It really did matter which side people were on. It mattered that the tribute came from Red Sox fans at Fenway Park. It mattered that they were the ones giving a standing ovation to a pitcher who had broken their hearts by leaving and broken their hearts some more by excelling for their most bitter rival, a club that specializes in breaking their hearts.

It mattered that they gave him such a warm thank you on an afternoon when the Yankees were helping to shatter another Boston season by winning 8-4. It mattered plenty.

It is what made the whole thing so darned special.

Clemens knew it. So after he left the Fenway field for one last time, in the seventh inning of his 100th Fenway win, he went back on it. He took off his cap and waved to people in each part of the old ballpark. Then he rushed back up the tunnel and caught himself before he choked up, because it mattered quite a lot for him, too.

"I was hoping I'd get an opportunity to do that," Clemens said. "It all worked out, that I was able to look to the bleachers, right field, left field, behind the plate, what have you. I was able to wave and say thank you.

"It's mutual. It goes both ways."

Being gracious was easier for him than it was for Red Sox Nation. He has two World Series rings and six Cy Young Awards. Plus, he is on the team that is in first place, 51/2 games ahead of the Red Sox.

But all, or most, of Boston figures Clemens did his part by having a heck of a career and compiling 306 wins. The faithful at Fenway know in their broken hearts that most of that came when Clemens was with them.

Sunday was their chance to salute that.

So it became Roger Clemens Day when he left with two outs in the seventh, the bases loaded, league-leading hitter Bill Mueller due up and the Yankees ahead 8-2. The Red Sox organization flashed a sign on the message board congratulating Clemens on his "Hall of Fame career," adding that it is "proud and grateful for the 192 times he brought victory to the Boston Red Sox."

The crowd roared for him.

Say what you will about Red Sox fans, but if you say they weren't classy, you're dead wrong.

Red Sox first baseman and former Marlin Kevin Millar, the one who said it produced goose bumps, added it was "a privilege" to be in a game like that.

No doubt some of the 34,482 there Sunday were at Fenway on May 26, 1984 -- Clemens' first game there, when he left with two outs in the seventh, the bases loaded, top hitter George Brett due up and Clemens' team ahead 5-2 (he got no decision in an 11-7 loss to the Royals).

Tommy McLaughlin came along two seasons later, as batboy. He's still at Fenway, as the visiting clubhouse attendant. He and Clemens got emotional when they talked about the old days -- including the way he used to hustle for bananas to bring the pitcher.

"It was funny, the things he needed on the day he pitched, but we always found a way to get it," McLaughlin said, although he couldn't remember anything but the bananas. He declined to look at Clemens when the pitcher came into the clubhouse in the seventh inning because he feared they'd both start crying.

McLaughlin knows Clemens' years in Boston still matter a lot to him. Fenway evokes memories of the friends he and his wife had in his old neighborhood, the way his kids loved to play the father-son game, the way he became one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

Clemens has outlasted Dan Duquette, the former Boston general manager who suggested in 1996 that Clemens was in the twilight of his career. Duquette was last seen portraying the Washington Senators' manager in a summer stock production of -- what else? -- Damn Yankees.

Clemens has the rings some Bostonians once thought he lacked the stomach to get.

And he had a heck of a day Sunday.

"You get exciting times like this, very neat times," Clemens said. "You feel like for all you've given, you get a little back."